Running
by LegalWrights
Summary: Blake has always run from her problems. It's part of who she is and it's linked to her very soul. But eventually, everyone has to stop running. No one can do it forever. (Bumbleby tones)


Blake was running. She had no idea where she was going, but she knew why she was going there. She'd hurt Yang so badly. It was all her fault, and no matter what she did, that arm would never come back. Yang would never be the same. If she left, then she'd at least recover from that. Adam wouldn't kill her. She sighed as she sat in a tree to change her bandages. The wound in her gut was still there, and it was still horribly painful. Blake pulled the bag off her back, pulling out some gauze and her medicine. She'd brought enough food to get to Mistral, a canteen, and her medicine. That was all she would need. Blake winced as she put the medicine she'd taken with her on the wound before rewrapping it. It stung so much.

She finished her work and threw her shirt back on, standing up on the tree branch to get moving again. As far as she was aware, there was a train she could take from a smaller town just outside of Vale. From there she could get a lift to Mistral. Hopefully there she would be able to gain her bearings, maybe track Adam down. Stop the White Fang perhaps. She bought her ticket and sat herself on a bench, keeping an eye out for anyone she might know. She couldn't stand the pressure, the fear that Sun or Ruby could be following her.

That's when she saw that red sword. That blood red weapon. She panicked when she saw it just beyond the crowd of people, slowly being drawn from a sheath. She left one of her shadows and sprinted out of the train station, back into the village and onto a rooftop. She would run as quickly as she had to, as far as she had to. It wasn't time to face Adam yet. She was injured, she wouldn't have a chance against him. For now, Blake would just have to keep running.

Blake would run like that for a full day, every time she turned around she'd see a flash of red, and that was more than enough to keep her running. It was more than enough to force her to ignore the pain in her abdomen. More than enough to push through the bleeding. She finally gave in when she found the destroyed apartment building that was the start of one of Vale's colonies. One of the great failures. She stepped inside, taking shelter in one of the lower floors. Inside, there wasn't a way out. There were two rooms, a main room and a bedroom, and very little else. Bare walls, wooden floors, and in a state of disrepair.

She sat herself in the center of the room, trying to treat her wounds as best she could. She heard the footsteps coming down the hallway and sighed. She knew he was coming, and she knew this would be the end. At the very least, it meant no one else would be hurt anymore. He could put her head on a stick as a point to the other Faunus, but Team RWBY would be safe. Yang would be safe. She turned herself around to face Adam as she walked in. Wait…she?

She stared in surprise at the woman who had walked into the apartment. She had a cut black dress with several necklaces. The red sword Blake had seen was strapped to her side, but her mask left no doubt. She must be White Fang, right? The woman reached up and removed her mask, shaking her hair loose. It was long and black, and as she opened her eyes Blake saw a familiar red. But where had she seen it before. "Running away again, Blake?"

Blake blinked and shook her head. "Who are you? Why are you chasing me?" She asked, constantly listening for anyone else. She was paranoid. She hadn't slept, she was so sure Adam was chasing her. She was positive she was doing the right thing. The woman sat down on the wall, pulling a small bottle out of a pouch she held. She knocked it back and took a long drink, and Blake narrowed her eyes to try and read the label.

She stopped and cleared her throat, holding out the bottle. "You drink?" Blake shook her head and the woman sighed. "I figured with Qrow around you kids would be downing entire bottles by now. What a disappointment." She smirked and put the bottle down next to her. "You and I are a lot alike, you know that Blake?"

Blake kept her eyes narrowed. She had no idea who this woman was, and she wasn't about to talk to her. She finally sighed. "My name is Raven." She said finally. "Raven Branwen." That was when it clicked. That name, Branwen. That was Qrow's name, and that was Yang's uncle. So… "You're Yang's mother." She said as it dawned on her. Those eyes, that was where she'd seen them before. They were Yang's.

Raven smirked and took another sip. "Took you long enough. The kid looks exactly like me, I figured it'd take a couple seconds with how you look at her." Blake blushed at that comment, she curled herself up a bit more. She felt far from safe, but she didn't feel like she was in immediate danger anymore, so there was that. "So, has Yang said anything about me?" She shook her head no. Yang was always careful to avoid the subject of parents. If she did get on the topic, she'd talk about her father freely, but Blake had never once heard Yang say a thing about her mother.

Raven nodded. "I figured about as much. I walked out of her life the second they cut the cord." She said simply, taking another sip of the bottle. Blake just wanted her to down the rest of the stupid thing. She wanted Raven to say what she was here for and just leave, not beat around the bush and drink away at a bottle of alcohol. Then she remembered the last name. It must be genetic, and that meant she feared a bit for Yang's liver.

"You don't talk much, do you?" Blake shook her head, eyes still narrowed. "Alright, neither am I, but I guess I'll have to do the work here." She finally downed the rest of the bottle and Blake almost sighed in relief. Now they could finally talk. "So. Why did you run away kid?" She asked, tossing the bottle out the door of the apartment. Blake listened to it clink down the hallway before she spoke.

"Because Yang got hurt." She said simply. "It was my fault. My old family came back for me, and they didn't like my new friends. So they hurt her." Her eyes seemed to glow in the darkness of the poorly lit room as she spoke. They would be unnerving to most people who saw her, but Raven didn't seem to care. She seemed numb to it. "If I run away, no one will ever hurt her again." Her voice cracked a bit, but she knew she was doing the right thing. So why did Raven start laughing.

"No one is going to hurt her again? Blake, do you realize how much damage you've done in the past few days?" Blake stared at the woman in confusion. She knew Adam had cut off her arm, she knew she'd left without saying a word, what else could she have done though? "I had to leave her. My position in the world doesn't exactly offer me much choice. I have a job to do, and I can't exactly pull a poor little blonde girl into this world." They sat in silence for a while. "I didn't have a choice when I left, and yet I still watch her. I still make sure she's doing okay when I have the chance. I make sure she's eating, sleeping, making new friends…" She gave Blake a sly smile and Blake averted her gaze. "I make sure she's dating the right people. You know, mom things."

Blake shook her head. "So? Why are you telling me this?" Raven rolled her eyes as if it should be obvious. It really wasn't. "Blake, Yang doesn't know what I do. She doesn't know anything that I do for her and I can't ever let her know. Tai and her? They think I walked out because I hated them. They thought I didn't care, and because of that I hurt them." Now it was her turn to stare at the barren ground. "I hurt them so bad…"

Blake almost tried to comfort the woman in front of her. She didn't even know her, but for some odd reason the overly paranoid Faunus believed her. Maybe it was the sincerity in her voice, maybe it was the somber look on her face. Regardless though, she believed her. "And now…you left her Blake." Raven said suddenly, looking back up. Blake almost jumped at the sudden intensity in her eyes. That was the burning passion that Yang had whenever she got angry. Whenever she had a point to prove. "Yang is going through the same thing all over again. Someone she thought she trusted and would love forever walked out on her."

Blake blushed and clenched her fists. "I didn't have a choice. Adam wou-" Raven snapped and cut her off. "Adam would what, Blake? Kill her? Maim her? Rip her apart? Do you think any of that matters to her?" She was right, but Blake wasn't going to give up her point like that. "That's not the point! Yang would go in and get herself killed! I won't be responsible for that."

They sat silently again before Raven crossed her arms as if she'd proven her point. "That's pretty selfish, Blake. You'd give up her happiness, that cheery outlook she has on the world and all the light in those eyes, just so that you wouldn't be responsible for what happens to her?" Blake blinked and stuttered. "No I…that's not what…"

Raven smirked and sat back. "Then explain it. Right now, try again. Explain it in a way that doesn't mirror exactly what I did." Blake couldn't even think. The similarities were painfully clear between the two huntresses. Nothing she said could change that. "That's what I thought." She stood up almost effortlessly, despite the bottle of alcohol she had just downed. "Blake, I left because I didn't have a choice. She was a child, and I couldn't be there for her. Now she's a wonderful young huntress…and she can make her own decisions."

Blake sprang up, ready to draw Gambol Shroud just in case. She was incredibly paranoid at this point. "No, you don't understand! The people I'm running from will rip her apart for fun, I can't let them get to her!" Raven just laughed though. She thought the White Fang were a joke. And they were, compared to what she had seen. Compared to what she fought off on a daily basis.

"Oh will they? Then what's the point of running? If they'd do it for fun, won't they come for her regardless? When she can't tell them where you are, what do you think they'll do to her?" Blake's eyes widened in fear. Her ears flattened as she felt defeated, shaking at the thought of what they'd do to Yang. She was all alone, she was defenseless with her one arm, and Blake had left her without a reason to even try to fight. "I…I…"

Raven drew her sword, making a halfhearted swing in the air. A red portal opened, and Blake couldn't quite make out what was on the other side. "In the end, you can decide if what I'm saying hits home or not. I can't do much else here. Just realize that she needs you a lot more than you need her." She put a foot through it and stopped, holding her mask. "Although…you could use her too. If anything else, to get you talking..." She stepped through and her mutter echoed in the room as she left. "The one thing I'm glad Tai taught her…"

Blake collapsed to her knees. She was crying, unable to force herself to her feet. She couldn't believe she could be so stupid. She couldn't believe what she had done to her friends. What she'd done to Yang. It was here that Blake finally got some sleep. For the first time in days.

The next morning Blake rolled over on the hard floor, gasping as she realized where she was. Yang. She grabbed her bag and leapt to her feet, sprinting out the door of the apartment. She climbed into the trees and jumped from branch to branch, back in the direction she'd came from. Back in the direction of Patch. She had to get to Yang and fix her stupid mistakes. For once, she wasn't running from her problems. She was running toward a brilliant solution…and a brighter future.


End file.
